pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Caroline Gilman
Caroline Howard Gilman (October 1, 1794 - September 15, 1888) was an American poet and prose author, "one of the most popular women writers of the first half of the nineteenth century."David Haberley, Caroline Howard Gilman, Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, March 11, 2002, Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society. Web, June 28, 2016. Life Caroline Howard was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Anna (Lillie) and Samuel Howard, wealthy and well-connected Bostonians. She grew up in a succession of Massachusetts towns until her widowed mother settled in Cambridge in 1804.Caroline Howard Gilman, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web, July 28, 2016. She had a a poem, "Jephthah's Rash Vow," published without her permission in 1810. Another Biblical long poem, "Jarius's Daughter," appeared in the presitigious North America Review in 1818. She married Rev. Samuel Gilman, a Unitarian minister, on on September 25, 1819. The couple moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where Samuel Gilman served as minister of the Second Independent Church (later the Archdale Street Unitarian Church) from 1819 to 1858. Gilman had written only a few poems after she moved to Charleston, but threw herself into writing and publishing following the birth and death of her 6th child in 1831. In 1832, she founded The Rose Bud – renamed The Southern Rose Bud in 1833 and The Southern Rose from 1835 until it ceased publication in 1839 – one of the earliest children's weeklies published in the United States. Gilman herself produced most of its content, including 3 serialized novels later published in book form, the verse and prose included in her Poetry of Travelling in the United States, 1838, and dozens of other tales and poems for both juvenile and adult readers. From 1837 to 1839 she also edited the Boston Lady's Annual Register and Housewife's Memorandum-Book. Most of her books were strong best-sellers by the standards of the time. By 1839 she was the most famous female writer of the South. In the fall of 1839 when she was almost 45 years old, Gilman bore and lost her 7th child, Frederick Samuel. She wrote her sister in January, 1840, that she had developed "something amounting to aversion to the whole writing process," a process which now "seemed to be almost a disease." She wrote only a handful of original poems during the rest of her long life, though she continued to recycle material from the Rose journals in gift-books and annuals and produced an anthology of her poetry and a series of popular fortune-telling games based on quotations from other poets. Following her husband's death in February, 1858, Gilman remained in South Carolina through the Civil War, supporting the southern cause to the very end. Her home and possessions in Charleston were destroyed, but she returned to that city in 1865 and lived there until 1882, when she joined a daughter in Washington, D.C. She outlived all but 1 of her children, and died in Washington at the age of 94. Publications Poetry *''Tales and Ballads. New York: Samuel Coleman, 1839; Boston & Cambridge, MA: James Munroe, 1839. * ''Verses of a Life Time. Boston & Cambridge, MA: James Munroe, 1849. *''Poems and Stories by Mother and Daughter'' (with Caroline Howard Jervey). Boston: Lee & Shepard / New York: Lee, Shepard, & Dillingham, 1872. Novels * Recollections of a Housekeeper. New York: Harper, 1834. * Recollections of a Southern Matron. New York: Harper, 1838. *''Love's Progress. New York: Harper, 1840 Non-fiction * ''The Poetry of Traveling in the United States. New York: S. Coleman, 1838. *''Record of Inscriptions in the Cemetery and Guilding of the Unitarian, formerly denominated the Independent Church, Archdale Street, Charleston, S.C., 1777-1860.'' Charleston, SC: Walker, Evans, 1860. Juvenile *''The Rose-Bud Wreath. Charleston, SC: S. Babcock, 1841. *''Stories and Poems for Children. New York: C.S. Francis / Boston: J.H. Francis, 1844. **''The Little Wreath of Stories and Poems for Children''. New York: C.S. Francis, 1846. **''A Gift Book of Stories and Poems for Children. New York: C.S. Francis, 1850. *Oracles for Youth: A home pastime. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1852. *''The Young Fortune-Teller: Oracles for youth. Boston: Lee & Shaepard / New York: Lee, Shepard, & Dillingham, 1874. Edited *''The Rose Bud; or, Youth's gazette'' (magazine). Charleston, SC: 1832. *''The Southern Rose Bud'' (magazine). Charleton, SC: 1833-1835. *''Letters of Eliza Wilkinson: During the invasion and possession of Charlestown, S.C. by the British in the revolutionary war. New York: S. Coleman, 1839. *''The Lady's Annual Register and Memorandum Book (annual). Boston: 1838-1845. Other *''Oracles of the Poets: A fanciful diversion for the drawing room. New York & London: Wiley & Putnam, 1845. *The Sibyl; or, New oracles from the poets. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1848. *''The Poetic Fate Book: New oracles from the poets. Boston: Lee & Shepard / New York: Lee, Shepard, & Dillingham, 1874. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Caroline Gilman, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 18, 2013. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *Caroline Gilman profile & poem at the Academy of American Poets *Caroline Gilman 1794-1888 at the Poetry Foundation *Caroline Howard Gilman at PoemHunter (8 poems) *Caroline Gilman at Poetry Nook (39 poems) ;About *Caroline Howard Gilman in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Caroline Gilman (1794-1888) at South Carolina Center for the Book. *Caroline Howard Gilman in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography Category:1794 births Category:1888 deaths Category:19th-century American poets Category:Writers from Boston, Massachusetts Category:People from Charleston, South Carolina Gilman, Carolina Howard Category:19th-century American writers Category:American women poets Category:Poets from Massachusetts Category:19th-century women writers Category:19th-century poets Category:American poets Category:American women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:American children's writers